I know this will definitely not be a super popular brand like the other ones you mentioned but after having the same dilema I ended up seeing a really cost effective option in Aldi - Lansinoh double electric breast pump and just bought it. I decided I definitely wanted a double electric, was prepared to pay whatever I needed to get a good one but a friend recommended the Aldi one so I just took the stress out of it and went for it 😊
I have 1ml syringes for colostrum harvesting (so far have been unsuccessful in collecting anything yet but persevering) and have the 150ml Haakaa which I'll take into hospital. I'm only harvesting because I was encouraged to by my consultant & midwife, based on my medical situation but was also told not to pressurise myself if I can't get any.
I bet everyone has a different amalgamation of the ones you mentioned too which doesn't make it a straightforward decision! X
Really useful thank you. Yeah, I'm not loyal to brands at all so the I will definitely Google the cheap Aldi version you mentioned. Just want to be milked in the most pain free and efficient way as possible. I'll be looking into the Haakaa too. Thanks very much for your reply
I had a cheap version of a hakka (vacuum) for catching leaks and it works great, think it was on sale in lidl. They're great for when you leak from the side you're not feeding from. I could catch about 2oz before my supply leveled out after a few weeks.
I have a hand express Tommee Tippee, work. fine for me but does require a bit of effort.
I've got the Tommee Tippee electric one because I didn't want to spend much money on something I wasn't really going to use much, so it might be worth waiting until you're sure you're going to need it before spending out lots on it
I don't like expressing, it's such a chore to sterilise stuff and find time to fit it in, so I've rarely done it, only if I really have too for a night out etc. Little one is 5 months now, so can go several hours without a feed, so can normally work around fed times. She'll also take a bottle of formula in an emergency. When I go back to work she'll be weaned so having good during the day and I'll feed her before and after work. Plus she can also have cows milk from 12 months so can have that too.
Breastfeeding
I'm currently breastfeeding my 2nd so these are things I've learned, I definitely not anti formula, but I think the support to breastfeed is a bit lacking, if breastfeeding is something you want to try but you're not overly bothered about then half of it won't count, but I hate the idea people who really want to do it feel they've failed if they've not had the support/info.
Your milk comes in after a few days, but those first few days you will be producing Colostrum which will feed baby, it's tiny amounts but fairly often as their tummies are only tiny.
You shouldn't need formula as back up if you get enough support and know what early days of feeding will look like. Not producing milk is a really rare thing, Most issues are because of tongue tie, bad latch and confusing baby upping supply for hunger. Your milk is made from your blood, so if you've got blood you've got milk, it's all about lots of feeding to build up your supply so you're body makes the milk readily available. You'll find that your boobs can always produce milk, but sometimes they'll might feel full at the beginning of a feed and you could spray across the room and by the end the flow is slower, one way I heard it explained to me was that they're rivers not lakes, so milk always there, but running at different speeds sometimes. One thing to remember is that it's the love hormone oxytocin that releases your milk, so if your stressed about feeding maybe take five and get in the read mindset to feed and lots of skin to skin with baby to build up the Oxytocin.
Supplementing with formula too quickly in your breastfeeding journey can mean you get stuck in a cycle where your body isn't getting the signals to make milk so you need more formula.
Your midwife might talk to your about harvesting colostrum, but they only do this around 37 weeks. I did it because I had gestational diabetes so it was recommended by my diabetes nurse and obstetrician. You won't show any signs of having milk nownecessarily, but if you wanted to harvest any your midwife can provide your with syringes and a booklet about it. You're advised not to start till 37 weeks as that's when baby is classed as fully cooked.
After a few days of trying I started seeing a few tiny beads of colostrum and after a week or so was getting several ml each session.
Wow, thank you. Very detailed information. You're a proper expert. I think I'll ask my midwife for some syringes. Good to know about the hand pump for catching those leaks. Thanks for your response, really useful.
So I’ve decided to wait a few days post birth to buy the Elvie double electric pump firstly because I want to encourage my milk supply to come in naturally so will breastfeed to begin with, and secondly because they’re so expensive so I wanted to see what milk I do have and how I felt. You can get next day delivery these days so felt like a good option.
I also have the Hakka to take into hospital with me, just got it from Amazon.
I also have ready made formula bottles and powder stored just incase breastfeeding doesn’t work for me or I need a top up.
I will start harvesting (or attempt to harvest) colostrum next Saturday, one week because my c-section. I’m sure I’ll have questions on how to do that! But the plan is to do what I can, freeze it and take it into hospital with me to use for the first couple of days on my little ones.
My plan is to breastfeed and express feed to begin with - I can’t imagine breastfeeding two every three hours. So my aim would be to express AM and then breast and then express in the evening too and breast around - my aim is to give them one bottle feed in the night and breast around it!
I found all of this so overwhelming but after chatting to my friend who is a midwife and the advice on here, I think I’m now comfortable with the plan above! If it doesn’t work, then I’ll attempt to roll with it and hope I figure something out for us all that works!
Now this is useful! Thank you. It seems I definitely need to start with the simple hand pump first before forking out on fancy gadgets. The fact that my boobs are dry and I have nothing to harvest atm means I won't need an automatic pump straight away. Will be promptly stealing this plan. Thanks for reply
I second a haaka style pump. I had one by nature bond and that came with a strap to put round your neck and attached to the pump incase it fell off.
I also got by fine with a tommee tippee to be honest. I loved that I could put batteries in it to make it mobile but I’m sure there are similar- it’s been over a year since I last expressed 😭
I bought a tommee yippee pump and found it inconsistent and ended up buying an expensive Medela one. I definitely preferred having a double one and the option to use it hands free. I found expressing and looking after baby really hard until I bought my medela pump. Best £300 I ever spent.
I only really used mine to boost my supply and because baby wasn’t gaining weight so had to combi feed for a while. It then took a while to drop the bottles. Personally I found it much easier to exclusively BF than expressing and sometimes using bottles. However, it is good to have the option to let someone else feed baby, especially when they get bigger and you want to leave them for a afternoon or evening.
You will find your own way. I would definitely say it is something worth spending a bit more on if you can. The medela was so much gentler, I swapped because I had blisters on my nipples from using the tommee tippee one - not a fun experience!xxx
I think it was the medela freestyle flex double electric breast pump. I loved it, expressed twice as much milk as my other one in much less time. Really helped boost my supply and establish BF.
I would be tempted to wait to buy things like breast pumps and formula. I read a lot before my first about how having the formula ready to go meant that it was more tempting to supplement when it was just baby sorting out your supply. It can feel pretty constant feeding in the first few weeks but supplementing for a lot seems to be the start of the end as it messes with supply. Though everyone is different and you have to do what works for you.I found expressing too much hassle, sterilising and finding time to express. Then it messes with your supply. Then my 1st refused to ever have a bottle so it was all irrelevant so really wish I hadn't bought anything.
With my 2nd I haven't expressed once, haven't had to sterilise anything. It's been much less stressful to not worry about any of that. Now she is 11 months and I am back at work she eats during the day and I feed her before and after.
My most useful thing for breastfeeding was reading what normal looked like. How often it's likely to be. Cluster feeding etc. Most people give their babies formula because they think the arent producing enough when it's just normal behaviour. Every journey is different so good luck.
I had already invested in the MAM 2in1 single electric pump prior to having my little boy, it was about £100 but got it on offer through the Bounty app. We had brought a couple of MAM bottles as back up for breast feeding and they fit on the pump so you can express straight into them, but they also supply storage pots in the pump sets.
I wanted to breast feed so all this was a backup.
Well, our breast feeding journey was quite a challenge. My little boy had a tongue tie (which went undiagnosed for 10 days) and I was battling a very hungry 9lb 3oz born baby who couldn’t latch. He dropped two lines on the weight graphs from 91st to 50th centile. When the HV diagnosed the tongue tie it was such a relief.
Anyway, I was expressing milk with the pump about 8 times a day whilst my hubby fed baby as I was stubborn and insisted that he had my milk. We topped up with formula but it gave him terrible colic. Not sure if it was from the formula or the mix of breast milk and formula. I found the hand pump option on MAM awful but the electric option was an absolute dream.
The wait time to get tongue tie sorted on nhs was horrendous…3 months back in aug 2020 and due to my fears of complications I delayed getting it done privately. Probably my biggest regret if I’m honest.
I had to stop expressing as the colic and time pressures when my hubby went back to work made it very difficult. We moved onto formula and after a few weeks of finding one the he settled on he was back up to 91st centile, colic went and I had the energy to enjoy him fully. We had his tongue tie snipped privately and whilst it was too late for breastfeeding it made bottle feeding a more normal experience as prior to it he’d take about an hour per feed on 4-5oz of milk.
I guess what I’m saying, and I say it to everyone because of my experience, is get any issue with latch checked for tongue tie as I was told in my hospital the midwives aren’t allowed to diagnose (no idea why!!) and go easy on yourself whatever happens in your feeding journey. Lots of people say breast is best and whilst I don’t disagree with them, my philosophy is fed is best…. And you will have your own experiences which will influence those decisions.
Take a look at the mam pump. My friend has just borrowed mine and she’s getting on great with it as a support for increasing her supply.
I’m pregnant with my second and have just purchased a Colostrum harvesting kit from ‘Drops of Gold’ which was recommended to me. I didn’t harvest colostrum in my first pregnancy but will definitely be giving it a go this time round
Good luck and try to enjoy every minute, they don’t stay small for long enough! X
Regarding expressing, I wouldn't invest too much because pumping doesn't work for everyone. You could try one of the hospital pumps and then decide. But ideally you shouldn't be expressing (that includes haakaa as it is with suction) until breastfeeding is established (around 6-8 weeks). I wouldn't buy formula, most likely you won't need it and it just puts you in a different mindset. Do ask for any help you can get with latch so it's deep. And remember it shouldn't hurt at all, if it does the latch needs help. If you're doing everything and it still hurts it may be tongue tie and you have a right to get it checked.
If you feel better buying some formula, you can later donate it to a food bank. They really need it.
My baby was premature and I didn't have anything ready, but I was able to order online what I need it. What I was lacking the most is knowledge and midwives gave me conflicting information. So read about breast and bottle feeding beforehand. There's La Leche League, Breastfeeding Network, they both organise free antenatal sessions, both in person and online.
I'd also suggest waiting until baby is here to buy one - have a couple on your short list but would definitely say it's not something you need to purchase beforehand, will give you a chance to decide whether you actually want/need/can be bothered with one. Also, when my LG was born I got lots of vouchers for Boots so between that and other money off vouchers through the parenting club, I ended up getting a Medela single electric pump for a total bargain.
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Baby 5 months waking up every hours 
Birth right to chose c section.
